Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

128 reviews

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious tense slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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emotional inspiring mysterious tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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adventurous dark tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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adventurous lighthearted slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: N/A
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
adventurous challenging dark mysterious medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

A Court of Thorn and Roses is one of those books on the "how have you not read this yet" list that everyone seems to judge readers by. It was far better than I was expecting, based on my last few experiences reading total duds, recommended by BookTok. It's not a romance novel by any means, and it's not a Beauty and the Beast adaptation, not really. The elements are there, but there is way more than the Belle et Bete story. I enjoyed it, and I like that it didn't end on a cliffhanger. I'll probably read the next book in the series. 

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
adventurous challenging funny mysterious relaxing medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective relaxing tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I am leaving my character/plot question answers as-is. I populated those fields after my first read of A Court of Thorns and Roses but the rest of this review is being written after a re-read of ACOTAR so IYKYK! I feel like I was such a sweet summer child back then (a whole month ago – haha) when I put down A Court of Thorns and Roses for the first time. I loved Maas' series so much that as soon as I finished A Court of Silver Flames I returned to page one of A Court of Thorns and Roses and started the series over. 

All-in-all, Sarah J. Maas has rekindled a dying spark for fantasy novels that was inside of me. As someone who loved the genre as a kid, I don't know what part of adulthood beat that draw out of me, but I am so grateful for SJM's writing which led me to rediscover the genre.

Drawing hugely from Beauty and Beast, while calling on other folktales and fairy tales throughout, A Court of Thorns and Roses has everything a fantasy reader needs to enjoy a well-written story that lays a solid foundation for the rest of the ever-growing series. With an instantly loveable main character and a story that takes off from page one, ACOTAR follows a proven-to-work plot formula that culminates with a dramatic event and ends with a cliffhanger that leaves the reader wanting more immediately. 

During my re-read, oh, how my opinions changed. When I first read the book, I flew through it and didn't annotate one page; however, I came armed to my re-read with my tabs and a pen which was an exciting experience. And I love that my experience with the book was completely different.

Tamlin and his character arc fooled me. During my re-read, it stood out that most of the situations Feyre and Tamlin found themselves in that I read as romantic, endearing, or just cute the first time around gave me a major ick. A lot of situations also stood out to me the second time I read the book including the fact that Lucien straight up drugged Feyre when he abstained from telling her about the mushrooms then Tamlin just laid down beside her passed-out body and slept with her in the field. LIKE, WHAT?
 

As I continue my re-read, I am excited to see how my opinions continue to evolve. And I think the ability of a book to do that speaks volumes. It's not just about picking up on small details that I missed during the first read-through but having differing opinions on entire character arcs and plot devices. During my re-read of ACOTAR, I felt like I was reading an entirely different book than I did the first time. And that is proof of a great piece of writing and a talented author.

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